Method of heating coiled materials.



w. B. PEmCE.

METHOD 0F HEATING COILED MATERIALS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.26.\916.

' Patented Oct. 16,1917;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 ]Maw/431101: h/mze. g il albanet, 1.7

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WLLIAM B. PEIRCE, 0F NORTH TONAW'ANDA. NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 BUFFALO BOLT COMPANY, 0F NORTH TONAWANDA, NEW YORK, A QORPORATION GF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 16, 1917.

Original application llied November 10, 191i, Serial No. 659,487. V Divided and this application led January '26, 1916. Serial No. 74,330.

To all y'zo/wm 'it 'may concern.' l

Bc it known that l, Winmfmr 13lnrnon, a citizen of the United Htatcs, resujlmg at 145 Bryant street, in North. Tonawanda, in

the county7 ci? Niagara, and State ot' New York, have invented certain new and use lul Improvements in hlcthods of Heating Coiled lillaterials, of which the following is a specification.

This method concerns progressively heating continuous length of material while feeding it into, threugl, and out of a furnace. It involves a method of handling the material, which though use ful for other purposes, is particularly adapted for .furnaces and operations where the metal is heated to a very high temperature, particularly Where heated up to the softening point. Effective lle-ating to such, temperatures requires that the metal passing through the furnace be For .some purposes, it has been proposedi to accomplish this by giving the metal a Istraight feed into and out of the urnace,thc

intermedi-.rte portions being wound tightly around a revolving drum within the furnace. Such method involves extensive contact of the metal with the drum and prevents its free exposure and uniform heating on all sides. `0n the other hand, winding the metal in large, open, freely suspended coils in accordance with mypresent method has not heretofore'been attempted because ot' the difficulties resulting from the initial stiffness of the metal and the effect of the heat in softening it.,

My method, while capable of useful employment for operations permitting tight winding of the material on the drum, is of much greater importance and usefulness for operationsrequirlng free suspension and ex' posure of the metal for effective, uniform,

high temperature heating. It involves giving to the material fed into the furnace a predetermined initial shape and set in the while advancn `interior uit curvature of a coil or helix of desired diameter and length suitable to the stillness of' the material and the size of the furnace. This material is wound'into the furnace so that it hangs loosely from s. suitable sup port and, though the material is more or less flexible, the construction. of the support is such as to permit the successive turn to assume and maintain a curvature and spar.v ing roughly approximating the coil or helix` shape originally given it.`

By suitably predeterminiug the length ct the interior support and the number ot' turns of the helix vhanging thereon, the length of time required for travel of each turn through the furnace may be as long as necessary. Hence, it is possible to maintain the required rate of out-put of heated material while using a relatively small, coinpact furnace. -1

Because of the eli'ect of the heat upon the lcoiled material in softening it, it is neces4 sary to carefully control the rates of movement o the metal at the supply end and the exit cud, so that it will be unt/round from the exit end of the helix by the time it has become softened to the proper degree and before it becomes too soft to maintain proper separation of the turns of the helix.

The material is uniformly heated because the amount of it which actuallyf touches Gli' thei support is small and the point of cuir tact is lnoreor less shifting, Y v if. 'The matcrml to be heated may be supplied in ready formed coils containin any desired length of theV material preferab y the ordinary commercial coils obtainable from the rod mills. Such material already has an initial shape or of4 approximately the curvature of 'the coil in which. it is marketed and such curvature or set is utilized in the forma'tion of the desired helix within the the coil I mean' that the circularly curved"t 108' set 'or shape is not taken out of the material it from the exterior to the.

The transfer of the material from the eX- terio-r coil to the interior helix may be efseparately at its extended part.

fected with or without change in the diameter of the turns, through an oblique opening into the furnace, and this opening need not be of much greater diameter than the thickness of the material. v

This new manipulation or method of handling coiled materials consists essentially'in the separation ol' the coil into its several turns. rlfhis is done by extending thtl coil in the direction of its axis.

As will be readily understood, if the first turn at the end of the coilis drawn in the direction'of the axis of the coil, that turn so drawn, will be separated from the remainder of the coil and is able to be heated Then-by passing this movement of axial extension along the material of the coil to its successive portions, these successive portions will be successively extended axially and may be successively heated.

rlhis'is the principal operation upon which this invention depends, and this operation may be performed by the naked hand of an operator, and the means of heating.,r may be applied in the same manner, no mechanis-m being required.

My above descrii'ied method for progresM sively heating coiled material may. be used.

foi? any desired purpose but it is particularly applicable tothe heating of ii'on until it is soft enough. for forging operations. ln such case, it saves the necessity of str-.iighteiiing and cutting the coiled material into lengths, heating it in long fiu'naccs and transferring it by hand to the automaticfoi'ging machine or other apparatus in which it is to be used.

For the commercial use of this process and for itslmore rapid operation, and for 'the enuiloyn'ient of more force which may he necessary iii its application to heavy niaterials, I prefer to use some form of niehanical device to manipulate the coil and some forni of furnace to furnish and apply the heat to the coiled material, and 1 have illustrated and present as a. portion of this specification, drawings and description of one form of furnace which will 'be found adequate-to perform the operation above described. i

In the employment of a furnace for this purpose, certain details of my method have been developed and are descrihed herein for the movement of such coiled material' from the exterior to the interior ofsuch furnace, which details of practice are the subjects of some of the claims presented herewith.

Thdi'speciic means for .transferring the exterior coiled .material into the furnace and for giving .the successive turns `the helical bend 'or ogset, is shown herein as consisting of feed mechanism operating to drive the material endwise through a helical or corkscrew passage in the Walls of the furnace.

The longitudinal support within the furnace My present apparatus and its method of operation Awill he more fully understood .from the followingr detailed description in connection with the accompanying drawings in which- Figure l is a side elevation of a furnace with my invention applied thereto, and

Fig. 2 a. plan view partly in section on the line 2--2 of Fig. 1.

ln the drawings l, (i, 6, represent the walls of a. furnace made of i'ire resisting material and secured by an exterior frame,

rlhc heating chamber within the furnace, is indicated at 30. 'A source of heat is sup plied for said furnace chamber as indicated at 9.

It has a coil supporting member, l, which is a cylinder mounted upon a shaft, y2E), by which it is turned.

rl`he. coil to he heated is hungrI upon this supporting member. l, which is placed near the outside of the furnace and is suplioi'ted upon the roller bearings, 32 $52.

This shaft, 2S), is turned by a sprocket, ll, driven by a chain, :25, from a driving sprocket, i, to which power is applied fromA a prime mover through the shaft, 34. 35 is a clutch. A feed controlling",r device is pro vided cousistii'ig of the feedl rollers 15 and 1G which are mounted to revolve upon their studs 17 and 18 respectively, being` actuated by sprockets, l2 and l?, through the driving chain 25.

Une of these-feed rolls, as 15, mounted upon a lever, 19, which is iotatableeupon. its

supporting stud, 20, and whose free end capable of' adjustment by a. set screw, 21, so as to press more or less closely against its companion roller 16 to adapt it toifeed various sizes of coiled material.

The rolls-15*\1( feed the coiled. material through the adjacent furnace wall and into" the heating chamber 3() of the furnace.

A 'passage through said adjacent furnace fivall, is suppliedlfor this purpose,l and this passage 1s curved as is indicated at 36, 37, .sothat the coiled material may passthrough it while still retaining its coiled form..

Borease of construction, I prefer to place in the furnace wall, an iron pipe as is illus- `rotate them :it the sonic oprit.

trated it 36 ill. which pipe heilt to op proxinnltely the nome cm'vnllire :is the coiled. material, :1nd .this pipe is so pinned, in the woll ne to nli'orjd n lend to the coiled material i ll HUH.

After passing throngh the inlet oliening Bti, 37. the (willed malte-rial penses over n. sul portingr rnexnher. Si. which mounted Within. snid furnace ehnnlbcr upon the shaft, Qi),

and which is ronde ot' n. lient resisting mote rial, und also preilorzdily eln'iplied with n pair of collars ne indicated :it "l ond l. Iplaced ndfincent to the interior 'fno s of' the "furnace mills., to prevent the coiled n termi from falling into the op between seid fin-mice 'willi :ind the el of supporting mond r d. Y

' `tnitnl; dlirinnr moons ore snp ied for rotnting;r this interior coil .supporting noem her. und tht` drawings ,ilinetrnte one forni of such driving -rneclnini n ne coneistinti,r of the sprocl lll. und drive chain., 2F

The imiterlnl to he heated passes around sind ,y from this; ii'itorioi* supporting inemberl 3 in. large depending coils freely exposed to tho lient on all sides except et the top point `.vl'iere they rest upon the cyl inder, the num r of turns of the coil being such as will one' it to remain, in the henting chol'nhcl.' of the inrit 'icc loing;r enough to he'hronght np to the dceired tempemtn're, :ift which it pilsselzl ont lroin the fornace clmrnher. 2id. through on oritice. 5, in the end well of the inmune, in the direction of the rotntion of the slllstziining member.

Upon its minorili-'ence from the chamber, 30, thc hunted nintoriul is il' l quent o1 ,tration to which its heated condition ndnpls it.` y

l huye prcierredto molte the supporting n' rs l :ind il. of nonni d meter., :ind to plicity, I have shofmi tlioi'. n

lt., 2li driven hy s y y moitie for any snbne w loc tir-nil for the method sind While I have disclosed with' y considerable pnrticnlnrii'y certain detail steps which :only he e1ii.}'ilt ye l in the prac- 'ticeof the stime. it will be olivionsnerer thelees that the invention is n brood one end that certain oli"v seid specific steps muy he oni' ted, or modified without de nurture :from the spirit of .my invention. lior instance, the method as broadlyv defined in certain of my lminis lleleinuften set forth r1 ticed loy utilizing the apparatus ly npplicntion No. 846,744. .y ins described my invention, what I clniin ne new ond desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:- y v ,l

l. The inotliod consisting in extending successive portions of a. coil of material to he heated in un nxinl' direction, without unwinding it1 and heating such extended p0riions successirely.` i

The method ctnislstlng in extending successive portions of n coll of` mnterlal to 'he limited, in nn nxinl direction, without un- A winding it, while maintaining n coiled fol-mf" and heading such extended portions.

3. ,The method consisting in extending successive portions of a coil of material to he heated in nn axial direction. Without unwinding it. maintaining thecoiled form, and hentin{r such extended 'iortions successively.

4. The method consisting in extending n coil of material to Abe heated in an axial direction. Without nnwinding it, and progr'esf sively heating such extended material.

5. The method consisting in extending n coil 'of motorini to beheated in an axial direction. without nnwinding it., while maintaining the coiled form, and 1progreeeively heating such extended materia (i. 'The method consisting in extending a coil of material to be heated in nnaxial direction, without nnwinding it, and heating the-extended portion. While moving it into the heating position by a force applied to its nnhented portion.

7.` The method consisting in extending a coil of motel-:inl to he heated in ant' axial direction. without unwindinzgr it, progressively winding it into n heny 'ng chamber or furnace and there heating it.

8. The method conssisting` in extending a co'. of lnnterial to he hezinted `in an axial di vinto n heating chamber or furnace sind lproi b riveli' heating such portions.

jtd. The method consisting in progressively extending :i coil ot` material to be los I h' nt nnwii'iding it, moving sucnivo pottionc ot :wld material into a heatheated in an axial direction, Without un- Winding it, moving the extended portions progressively" into a heating O hambenor furnace by a force applied to an unheated portion of thefeoil and 'ln'oglessively heating such portions.

11: The method' consisting in extending a coi] of material to heheated in an axial direction, without nnwinding it, moving the extended 'portions into a heating chamber or furnace5 and there heating said extended portions in coiled form.

12. The method consisting in extending a coilrof material to lie heated in an axial direction, Without |m\\'inding it and heating the .extended portion while maintaining its coiled form.

13. The method of progressively heatingr a Continnouslength ot' rod or wire. which method 'consists in progressively feeding' vcoil to progress alongr said support axiallyr of the coil and \\'ithdra\\'ing' the full)y heated material l'roni the remoto end ol' the coil.

Signed lat North 'l`ona.\\ainla. in the county ot' Niagara and State, of Yew York, this Z-lth day of f-lanuary, A. l). 1916. 

